Mary Brück

Edinburgh Women in STEM Add comments

Feb 292024

Mary Brück Building, Colin Maclaurin Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3DW

A grey, modern building with glass doors, a blue sign reading “Mary Brück Building” and a grey sign for “Brücks Street Kitchen”. — Mary Brück Building, King’s Buildings, University of Edinburgh

Mary Brück (1925 – 2008) was an Irish astronomer and astrophysicist who studied an undergraduate degree in physics at the University College Dublin. She went on to study a postgraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh and was awarded a PhD in 1950. Brück was appointed Astronomer Royal for Scotland and became a senior lecturer at Edinburgh University, publishing her research widely across various journals and research fields. Upon her retirement, Brück began to research the history of science, specifically the work of women in astronomy, helping to share previously unknown histories of women in science. The Mary Brück building in King’s Buildings is named in honour of her contributions to astronomy and her endeavours to enhance our understanding of the history of science.

A woman, dressed in a wool suit jacket with dark wavy hair, looking through a telescope. — Mary Brück with telescope. 1954
University of Edinburgh/Royal Observatory Edinburgh

Two images: One of a large number of bright stars in outer space. The second image shows a three-story stone tower with a decorative green and grey dome at the top.

Sources:

“Mary Brück.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Aug. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Br%C3%BCck
“Mary Brück.” Celebrating Diversity: Inspiring Women in History, The University of Edinburgh,https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity/celebrating-diversity/inspiring-women/women-in-history/mary-bruck.Accessed 13 Sept. 2023

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New Curious Edinburgh tours

For International Women’s Day on March 8, we are launching a new tour featuring locations in Edinburgh connected to amazing women in STEM. Celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM by taking a look at Edinburgh-connected women who have made an impact in a wide range of STEM fields.

Check out our new bird trail! We are currently working on the development of coastal trails, in collaboration with Traveltech for Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy Scotland’s Coastal Knowledge map. Here you can upload your own experiences of the coast, including birds you have spotted.

Last year we added the Second World War tour developed by academics from the schools of Social and Political Science and History, Classics and Archeology.